In a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) architecture, multiple Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), each comprising a software implementation of a communication service, are deployed in a pool of hardware machines. Services that can be implemented as VNFs include, for example, Load Balancing (LB), Firewall (FW), Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and Quality of Experience (QoE).
NFV architecture is described, for example, by the Industry Specifications Group (ISG) of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), in “Network Functions Virtualisation—Update White Paper,” SDN and OpenFlow World Congress”, Frankfurt-Germany, Oct. 15-17, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference. Use cases for the NFV architecture are described, for example, in “Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Use Cases,” ETSI Group Specification (GS) NFV 001, version 1.1.1, October, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference.